The New Yorkers by Robert Herman

Photographed between 1978 - 2005 using a Kodachorome color film, The New Yorkers is a collection of images photographed by Robert Herman which features a New York that has now almost disappeared. Many of the images were photographed in the streets of Soho, Little Italy, Tribeca, Greenwich Village and the Lower East Side in the 1970’s and 80’s — a time when graffiti was an integral part of the landscape, and the clash of cultures created a cacophony of voices.

For me, the book is a record of my personal journey to understand my place in the city of my birth and the one I chose to live in as an adult. It has taken me almost 30 years to be able to create a narrative from all the photos I took. It is a photographic exploration reflected in the faces of my fellow city dwellers and their environment. Some were survivors, some were crushed by the city, and some were just living day to day, from paycheck to paycheck. It took strength to survive: I too had to develop a sense of self and learn how to thrive and grow. Through the lens of my camera, my vulnerability met theirs at the moment of exposure: a photograph of someone whose heart is open to a stranger's camera says more about a New Yorker than I ever can in say in words. — Robert Herman, Photograher